OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G officially unveiled, to go on sale next month

The OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G has been officially unveiled, with preorders to begin from 3rd March. We’ve known quite a lot about OnePlus’s upcoming budget phone from various leaks, most of which has turned out to be true.

OnePlus haven't changed the successful formula from the previous OnePlus Nord CE 5G. The front of the phone still features a large 6.43 inch Fluid AMOLED display, with a 90Hz refresh rate and 2400 x 1080 pixels, for a generous 409 ppi.

The biggest change comes in the form of the CPU. Its predecessor used the Snapdragon 750G 5G chip from Qualcomm, however this time around, OnePlus have decided to use MediaTek’s technology, with the octa-core Dimensity 900 chip. On paper, the Dimensity 900 should provide moderate performance improvements over the Snapdragon 750G 5G.

The base model comes with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. As with most OnePlus devices, they may offer additional variants in the coming months, however there has been no official announcement as of yet. There’s also a microSD slot for additional storage up to 1TB, with dual SIM cards.

The cameras remain nearly identical, except the depth camera has been dropped for a macro camera. There’s a 64MP wide camera, 8MP ultrawide camera and 2MP macro camera. OnePlus promises their ‘AI infused’ camera technology has improved image processing, and can also benefit 4K video recording. The selfie camera is a 16MP Sony IMX471 sensor, placed within a small pinhole cutout at the top left of the display.

One of the biggest improvements comes in the form of fast charging technology. The charging technology has been upgraded from 35W to 65W SuperVOOC. The SuperVOOC technology is the same as used by Oppo (OnePlus’s parent brand) in their latest phones. Thankfully, you’ll get the 65W SuperVOOC power adaptor in the box, along with a suitable USB C cable. There’s a 4500mAh battery, which OnePlus claims can be charged for a ‘full day of usage’ within 15 minutes when using the SuperVOOC apaptor.

Sticking with the budget phone trend, the OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G will keep the 3.5mm headphone jack, and will also have a USB C port.

The OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G will come in two colours - Bahama Blue and Gray Mirror. Both colours have a reflective finish on the back, with a metallic look.

Interestingly, the phone will initially ship with OxygenOS 11 (Android 11), and not the latest OxygenOS 12 (Android 12). OnePlus says an update to OxygenOS 12 will follow shortly after release, but haven’t given a definitive date.

OnePlus claims this will be one of the thinnest phones on the market, with a thickness of 7.8mm. Height is 160.6mm and width is 73.2mm. The device will weigh 173g.

Preorders begin from 3rd March, with general sale from 10th March in the UK and Europe. Pricing starts from £299, and from free on contract.